Soon it will be 3 years after the liberation of Podkijowska Buczy and the massacre that the Russians committed there. Recall: More than 400 civilians were killed in the town occupied between March 5 and March 31, 2022. The murderers from Jabłońska Street – where quite a few victims were found – were the 234th Infantry and Assault Regiment from Pskov. Military was identified on the basis of equipment, labels and radio codes. Records from surveillance cameras, witness statements and content intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence of Russian telephone calls proved helpful in recreating the chronology of events. The eavesdropped conversations of Russian soldiers – who are perpetrators and witnesses of this and another crimes in Ukraine – became the channel of the documentary movie Oksana Karpowicz "Busted", which can be seen in selected studio cinemas from 7 March.
Before we go to the film, let's look at the essence of the Buccaneer massacre. In addition to formal investigations, journalists besides conducted their own investigations in this case, including from the fresh York Times. "The Buczy Crime was part of a deliberate and systematic, ruthless act of securing the road to Kiev," wrote American journalists in their report. Soldiers “interrogated and shot unarmed men of draft age and killed those who stood in their way, whether they were families with children trying to get out of town, locals going out to the store or just going home on a bike.”
Crosses on the graves of 50 unknown people killed by Russian troops during the business of Buczy in 2022. photograph by Olexia Chumachenko/Reporter
Let's keep moving. In the spring of 2023, a study of the investigation committee of the UN Human Rights Council was published. It specified the full catalogue of crimes committed by Russians in Ukraine. ‘Many deliberate killings, illegal deprivation of liberty, rapes and acts of sexual force occurred during home searches aimed at uncovering members of Ukrainian armed forces or weapons," wrote the report. Self-prisoned people were frequently held by Russian armed forces in terrible conditions in overflowing targets. "In 1 case 10 aged people died from inhuman conditions in the basement of 1 of the schools, and another prisoners, including children, had to share the same area with the bodies of the dead." The youngest household members were besides forced to look at rapes committed against their loved ones.
Let us look at these events from a different perspective. In July 2022 the safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) published a fragment of the intercepted conversation of a Russian soldier with his wife. "You have no thought what's going on here. I don't know how to get back to my average life after that.A man spoke to his partner. “You know how many dead I've seen? ... No head, no legs, no torso, no nothing... There is only meat here" – the Russian spoke of piles of bodies of fallen comrades. "Damn, I want to go home so badly, it's all so painful. But (...) I can’t imagine a planet in which you gotta pay bills in which cars go”, you could hear on the revealed video. He continued to assure the military that if he returned home, he would visit the cemetery where his grandmother, “the guardian angel”, was buried. “Then I will go to the monastery, visit all the churches,” assured the Russians.
Now to shore. The talks of Russian soldiers with their loved ones are at the heart of Oksana Karpowicz's documentary entitled "The Captured". The sound material of this production – the title captured – came from SBU listening and was delivered by this service to the author. The talks show that the Russians are stupided by hatred of Ukrainians. That it concerns both soldiers and their mothers, wives, siblings, children, all who stayed in the country. And yes, from time to time we hear traces of critical reflection – the awareness that Russians in Ukraine do not want, that Ukrainians can fight and that the standard of surviving in the affected country is higher than in Russia. Only that this reflection does not destruct the sense of superiority, contempt, but it frequently serves as a justification for robbery, since they do not quit and live better.
So there is content revealed and utilized in the movie recordings identical to the Ukrainian propaganda message, painting Russians in the darkest colors. Which opens the door to the allegation that the "captured" is not an independent work, but a weakness of non-objectiveism and manipulation of the component of information warfare. The movie was created on the basis of selected material, under the thesis about "bad Russians". And he could be considered specified – especially since Karpowicz is simply a Canadian of Ukrainian origin – if it were not for 1 ‘but’. That is, that everything that can be heard in the “captured” is full confirmed by the actions of Russian soldiers. They're truly killing, looting, raping, mass execution in pointless storms, losing their senses due to all the sensations. We know this not only from the Ukrainian communicative of this war. That is why I have recalled the fresh York Times or the United Nations, but these are not the only sources of madness and crimes in the East.
What should be emphasized present not only in the context of the movie Karpowicz. This is the time erstwhile lying narratives about Russian actions in Ukraine ceased to be the domain of Russian propaganda. When the president of the United States enters the Kremlin's shoes, telling about brave Russian soldiers whose dedication must be appreciated by a tribute from Ukrainian lands. The planet has turned upside down, and nevertheless uncomfortable it is, decent people do not relieve themselves of their work to tell the truth.
As of March 7, 2025, "Received" can be seen in selected studio cinemas. For more information on the screenings, see the Watch Docs website.
